Search form

You are here

Co-trimoxazole (also known as Septrin) is a well-tolerated, inexpensive, and cost-effective antimicrobial that reduces the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and other infections among people living with HIV. Although considered a standard of HIV care in higher-income countries, access to Co-trimoxazole is inconsistent in lower-income countries. Limited awareness of the benefits of Co-trimoxazole use among health care providers and service recipients is a key barrier to its access and use. Responding to this barrier, AIDSTAR-One developed and piloted provider and patient educational tools to increase appropriate prescription and use of co-trimoxazole for eligible people living with HIV. This collection includes those tools, a technical needs assessment report, and a summary report of the pilot project.

Co-trimoxazole (also known as Septrin) is a well-tolerated, inexpensive, and cost-effective antimicrobial that reduces the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and other infections among people living with HIV. Although considered a standard of HIV care in higher-income countries, access to Co-trimoxazole is inconsistent in lower-income countries. Limited awareness of the benefits of Co-trimoxazole use among health care providers and service recipients is a key barrier to its access and use.

Co-trimoxazole (also known as Septrin) is a well-tolerated, inexpensive, and cost-effective antimicrobial that reduces the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and other infections among people living with HIV. Although considered a standard of HIV care in higher-income countries, access to Co-trimoxazole is inconsistent in lower-income countries. Limited awareness of the benefits of Co-trimoxazole use among health care providers and service recipients is a key barrier to its access and use.

Co-trimoxazole (also known as Septrin) is a well-tolerated, inexpensive, and cost-effective antimicrobial that reduces the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and other infections among people living with HIV. Although considered a standard of HIV care in higher-income countries, access to Co-trimoxazole is inconsistent in lower-income countries. Limited awareness of the benefits of Co-trimoxazole use among health care providers and service recipients is a key barrier to its access and use.

Co-trimoxazole is a simple, well-tolerated, inexpensive antibiotic. When taken regularly as prophylaxis, co-trimoxazole reduces mortality and specifically reduces the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and other opportunistic infections (OIs) in adults and children living with HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends co-trimoxazole is included as an integral component of the HIV chronic care package as it is key to pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) care (WHO 2006). It is listed on WHO’s Model List of Essential Medicines in the “Other antibacterials” category (WHO 2010). Co-trimoxazole is also used in primary health care (PHC) to treat infections of the eyes, ears, skin, and genitourinary and respiratory tracts, among other infections (WHO 2008), thus rendering it a high-priority public health product.

Co-trimoxazole is a well-tolerated, inexpensive, and cost-effective antimicrobial that has been shown to reduce the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and other opportunistic infections among people living with HIV (PLHIV). However, limited awareness of the benefits of co-trimoxazole use among health care providers and service recipients continues to be a key barrier to its use (Anand et al. 2010). AIDSTAR-One developed provider and patient educational tools to increase appropriate prescription and use of co-trimoxazole for PLHIV eligible for its use and piloted these tools in Northern Uganda between May and August 2012. AIDSTAR-One conducted a mixed-methods assessment pre- and post-pilot to analyze the effectiveness and acceptability of the co-trimoxazole tools.

Subscribe to AIDSFree's Email Updates

Follow AIDSFree

The Strengthening High Impact Interventions for an AIDS-free Generation (AIDSFree) Project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development under Cooperative Agreement AID-OAA-A-14-00046 with support from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). AIDSFree is implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. with partners Abt Associates Inc., Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, EnCompass LLC, IMA World Health, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Jhpiego Corporation, and PATH. The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of USAID, PEPFAR, or the U.S. Government.